“I tried to Focus on my hives but the itching distracted me.”
Paula writes:
I have had a bad bout of hives and tried Focusing on them but found that the itching was too great a distraction.
Dear Paula,
Ah, yes! Focusing with physical ailments and symptoms is a whole interesting area.
It can be done…and can bring relief…but you have to do something counter-intuitive.
Usually when we do Focusing we sit at the edge of what we feel, say Hello to it, get the sense of it from a little distance.
But with injuries and symptoms, Barbara McGavin and I have found that it works best to go INTO the sensation. Like you’re sinking into it. Feel it and find description words as you feel it, but expect for a while that you will be immersed in the sensation. It will, at first, get more intense. Then surprisingly it often fades.
Find fresh words and metaphors. Yes, you know it itches. But what is the itching LIKE? Like burning pinpricks? Like angry roosters? Let your unique description come!
There’s this great article by Barbara, called Focusing with Small Physical Ailments. She talks about the importance of sensing the emotional quality of it. After you describe it physically, you will be able to sense its emotion.
You see, following this method, the itching isn’t a distraction, it’s what you are sensing. Can’t go wrong!
